Recipes from what you have: amounts and “Cook this”
How Despendo recipes work: quick combinations with amounts for your household, AI recipes and “Cook this” with an undo option.
A list of recipes isn't much use if it doesn't know how much you have. The Recipes screen in Despendo now starts from your real pantry: the amounts, the expiry dates and how many people live in your home. So it tells you what you can cook today and how much of each item you would use.
Quick combinations, no AI
There are 41 simple combinations (rice with tuna, stewed lentils, oatmeal with milk, noodle soup, pasta with oil and several that need no cooking). They don't use artificial intelligence: they are worked out on your device from what you have, so they don't spend your daily AI limit either and you can view them offline.
- Only the ones you can make show up. If an ingredient is missing, the recipe doesn't appear; the ones one ingredient short go under “Almost there”.
- Two at a time. So your screen doesn't fill up, you see two and a button (“Show 2 more · 7 left”). The first ones are those that use what expires soonest.
- Filters: all, those that use what expires, those that need no cooking and the quick ones (15 minutes or less).
- Amounts for your household. Open a recipe and you see how much of each product you would use, how much you have and the steps. The − and + buttons change the servings up to the most your pantry allows.
- Water and calories. Each recipe shows the approximate water it uses and the kcal per serving (if your products have kcal entered). That matters if you cook during a blackout: see how much water to store per person.
The amounts are approximate. Adjust them to taste and to your family.
AI recipes
If you want something different, the AI suggests three recipes with your products. You can ask for ones that need no cooking, use little water or are ready in 15 minutes.
What the AI receives: your products with their amounts and expiry dates, and the number of people in your household. It does not receive allergies or health data, nor your name or email (it's in the privacy policy). That is why the recipe knows nothing about allergies: always check it before cooking.
Despendo doesn't take the AI's word blindly. Before showing a recipe it checks that each product exists in your pantry, that the amount is in the product's unit and that it never exceeds what you have. Anything that doesn't add up is dropped. Each request counts as one of your daily AI limit.
“Cook this”
Every recipe, quick or AI, has a Cook this button. It doesn't deduct anything right away: first it opens a confirmation.
- You see each product with the amount that would be used. You can change it or drop a line with the checkbox.
- Under each line it says how much would be left, or “you will run out of this product”.
- If the change affects your autonomy, it tells you: “Your days of food would go from 21 to 20”.
- Only when you tap Yes, cook and deduct does the stock go down. It is logged in the pantry's activity.
You need a connection to cook, because the change is saved to your account.
Undo, for 24 hours
Picked the wrong recipe or deducted too much? At the top of the screen you'll see “You cooked ...” with an Undo button. It lasts 24 hours and works like this:
- It returns to your pantry what was deducted, adding it to whatever is there now. If you added more of the same product in the meantime, nothing is lost.
- If you deleted a product after cooking, that one is skipped and the rest are returned.
- Each cooking can be undone only once.
Getting the most out of it
Recipes lean on what you load. With dates and amounts up to date, the ones that use what expires come first, which is the idea behind rotating your pantry with FIFO. And for servings to come out right, add the people you live with in Your household.
Get the free 72-hour kit checklist
Leave your email, confirm it and we will send you the printable PDF. You will also get family preparedness tips and Despendo news. No spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
By subscribing you accept our privacy policy.Despendo is an independent app. This guide is general information: adapt it to your family, climate and medical needs, and always follow local authorities' instructions.
